まもる: Mamoru
by Mononoke-hime x sukai kurora
Summary: When Sasuke was unconcious during the last phases of the fight between Haku and Zabuza, he is visited by someone he thought he would never see again.


When Sasuke opened his eyes, he thought he would be dead. The last memory the twelve year old boy had was of Naruto – his friend, his teammate, his rival, and ultimately, the one he sacrificed his life for. _"Don't let…your dream die." _Those had been his last words to Uzumaki Naruto. Closing his eyes, he had only thought of how he had sacrificed himself to save someone worthy of saving. Sasuke's dream to kill his brother would die with him, he knew, and yet, he had no regrets. When he opened his eyes, he thought he would be dead. But the white light that met his eyes startled him, and he closed his eyes to the soothing darkness. Moments the onyx eyes opened again. The light seemed less white this time, and Sasuke wondered for the first time where he was. There was nothing but white light surrounding him, unlike the deep sleep he thought he would encounter when he died. _Am I…dead? _The thought struck him as strange. How would Haku not kill him? The former Kirigakure shinobi had been aiming for Naruto, but had fatally wounded Sasuke instead. He had been willing to kill two Konhagakure genin for the sake of his master. _"When a person... has something important they want to protect... that's when they truly become strong."_That is what he had said. Sasuke thought of the precious people he hadn't been able to save…his parents. If only he had been strong enough to save them, then maybe his original dream, to become a worthy shinobi, wouldn't have died.

"Sasuke…" The boy turned. His mind wavered. He recognized that voice. "Sasuke…" He never thought he would ever see her again, and his eyes glazed over as he stared at his mother, who had appeared before him. She was just as beautiful as he remembered her being when he was a child. Her long blue-black hair softly framed her face, and her pale skin mirrored against the white light. Her face…her face that looked so much like his own glistened with fallen tears. "My son…" Taking Sasuke in her arms, she embraced him and held him tight. Uchiha Mikoto involuntarily sighed when she felt her son's arms around hers. Their dark gray eyes met when Sasuke suddenly withdrew from their embrace.

_"Haha…" _Sasuke's words were strangled. He stared at the kunoichi who had been taken away from him five years ago. Now she was here. _She was here. _Sasuke had felt her warmth against his body. He felt her fingers stroke his hair just as she did when he was a very small child. He touched his face, and found that it was wet with tears. Sasuke tried to shake them away, but the tears only flowed more. _"Haha…" _His voice was only a whisper.

"Do you remember what I last said to you?" Sasuke found his mother's warm hand on his cheek. She didn't move to dry the tears away. She only smiled at him.

"I…remember," Sasuke whispered. His voice was still not strong. Memories of his mother resurfaced from the prison he had held them in. "You offered to help me train with shurikenjitsu after I came home from the Academy." His eyes welled with tears again as he remembered that day. He saw her dead body before her eyes. _"Gomen nasai." _

"What are you saying, Sasuke?" His mother gently asked him.

"I couldn't protect you…or my father…from him." Silently, Sasuke witnessed his mother's expression change. Her gentle eyes became marred with sadness.

" What happened, happened, Sasu-chan. There's nothing you can change about my death or your father's."

_"Wakaranai!" _Sasuke's eyes filled with rage and sorrow. "It was you two that I wanted to protect," he confessed more softly. "Not Naruto."

Silently his mother withdrew her hand from his cheek and held her hands in his. They were bigger than they used to be. "There is no way you can change the past, my son. Someday you will understand that if you have someone to protect, only then will you be truly strong and be able to save them."

"That's what Haku said," Sasuke looked at his mother with astonishment.

"You may not be able to understand me now, Sasuke, but what Haku-san said was true. Hate is not a strength, nor does it make you stronger. Only when you protect someone that you love is when you become truly strong." For a moment her eyes glazed over with memories. "That is what my _tomodachi _Kushina taught me. Some things," she stated sadly, "you can't protect. Sometimes fate is out of our hands, like you to me, and me to Kushina."

Sasuke was silent as his mother told him this. It was true, he didn't understand the power over hate and love. But there was a stirring in his heart that he couldn't ignore. There were some things he couldn't change. His parents were dead. It was now, that he realized, he accepted that. _Perhaps…someday…_ He didn't finish his thought.

Sasuke felt his mother's arms around him again. "Your time in the world of the living is not done, Sasu-chan. There must be something you're still meant to do." Sasuke saw his mother's smile. "Remember, my son. _Mamoru._ To protect."

With his mother's words in his mind, Sasuke woke.


End file.
